Tuesday, July 15, 2008

UPDATE: Kevin O'Connor appears to agree that C.J. Miles is allowed to mess up his own life --

"We've had conversations, and there's where it stands," O'Connor said. "I understand he's got every right not to attend -- and that's his prerogative." (O'Connor via Buckley, 2008)

[Yes, I seem to subconsciously feel a sort of Shakespearian tragedy surrounding C.J. Miles, so I'm running with it.]

Photo taken at Andrei Kirilenko's New Year's Eve Party December 31, 2007

What about the other side of the situation? Jazz fans on the Internet want C.J. to play (well, some of them do, some of them want him banished to far far away land); Jerry Sloan wants him to play, at least so he is not:

"Way, way behind" [like when he came into camp out of shape] last year and said he hoped he'd learned a lesson about staying in shape. "If he's behind again, I don't know what to do about it," Sloan said. "We'll just pick somebody that's ready to go." The Jazz have tendered Miles a $1.2 million qualifying offer to return this season, but Miles would like a multiyear deal. Miles' agent, Billy Ceisler, hasn't returned calls for more than a week. Sloan did suggest Miles remains in the Jazz's plans. "We didn't give [Miles] less of a chance last year," Sloan said. "I couldn't do anything about his conditioning. But you can't get in shape in three days for the NBA." (Siler, 2008)

But . . . there HAS to be more to it than just that. It's not just that Sloan and the rest of the Jazz brass feel one way, and all of the blame goes to C.J., right?

Well, Ceejay has to take care of himself. While he has a slightly better chance of not getting injured by playing disorganized ball over the summer than he does playing organized ball (let's understand that Ronnie Brewer got injured in his last Rocky Mountain Review, and started the season off slowly -- thankfully he was under contract; a situation that continues to elude Miles). I think that Miles may garner more exposure if he actually plays ball in front of scouts, regardless of the competition.

If CJ does play in the RMR, and busts it open, then we at least know that he's better than these fringe professional athletes. On the other hand, it was explained to me via the Internet that if Miles sucks it up and plays in this, he is basically admitting that he sucks, and that you are no better than your competition. He is a 4th year NBA player who would resign part of his summer to play against D-Leaguers and undrafted rookies.

He was supposed to be better than that. So a mixture of potential pride, a decision to stray away from potential injury and the hope that his age (still 21) assumes that he still has just enough of that quality that trumps actual NBA performance . . . potential.

That seems to be the story of C.J. Miles . . . potential. He has shown flashes of it over his "career"; and in order to prolong his, and maximize his earnings, he's been advised not to have this extended audition with his potential employers.